Chapter Two: Ponderings of a Reflection
In life, people are often born into a predestine fate. Think about it for a moment if you will. Everyone is bullied by life to become what they are: An infant forced to take its first breath upon exiting the protection of its mother's womb may either suffocate and die or force itself to adapt into a harsher world and survive. A toddler learning to recognize speech in order to convey it's and interpret others desires. A child taking its first steps on legs too soft for such a job to reach for a cookie jar across the room.
Baby steps, lessons in life that are either tutored or seared within every person. Survival of the fittest, yet with human civilization as it is now, the definition of 'fittest' and 'survival' has changed drastically from its origin.
The fittest human may not just have excellent physical traits, but a highly developed mind as well. The maturity to see the world as it is and adapt in a way that would allow for the position of the 'fittest' without being noticed, thus ensuring 'survival'.
His current physical state was anything but 'fit' and with some recent events, even ensuring his own 'survival' was not guaranteed. One thing he knew had something to do with that was his own thoughts/
The reference to himself as a male. A gender, something he had no concept of before. Somehow, this body held instinctive concepts, things that he knew were foreign to him, yet so…natural.
When he spotted his reflection on a nearby mirror, he saw a male child.
When he saw a tall human with long, dark hair, a proportional hourglass figure and a stiff posture, he saw an adult female.
When he saw a shorter human with a smaller hourglass- figure, long brownish hair, and a heart shaped face with blue eyes, he saw an adolescent female.
When that same adolescent female smiled at him and approached with a steaming tray of nutrients, he felt hunger. She laid her metacarpals on his hair, stretching her facial features into a shape that almost matched the one he longed for. On a pile of sliced and fused wood she lay, taking a piece of purified and twisted metal in her other set of Phalanges and scooping it into the plate with the odd mixture of nutrients.
She was close, and his hunger flared violently. He knew she was human, that he was human too. His former form would not hesitate to make a meal out of such a forthcoming prey, but his new form did not see her that way. He was hungry, slightly at her due to proximity, but mostly at the swirling mixture of easily assimilated nutrients held inches from his mouth with the twisted and purified mineral.
He looked into her azure-tinted eyes and saw something that had the same effect as that expression that man from before gave to him. Immediately, the hunger for her had subsided… changed into something more subtle. Now his main hunger was focused on the nutrients hanging just inches from his face.
He moved forward… only to have the mixture of nutrients slide down his face.
The adolescent female's eyes widened in surprise, it seemed that she had not expected that to happen as well.
Suddenly, another presence walked in through the opened door.
He was a tall human male, with black and spiked hair, tired facial features, broad shoulders, a double layer of clothing. He looked like any regular human male, but here was something that set him apart from all the others.
His smile.
It was felt warm, and although not as intense as before, it had not lost its quality. This was definitely the same human from before, the one that had taken him form the fire.
"Oh, I didn't know you two knew each other. I was preparing some adoption papers, but…"
In his hands were sheets of papers finely organized and labeled with fancy, blocky shapes. His smile seemed to lose its warmth upon seeing the nice adolescent female. Whatever was causing him to lose that smile seemed to lay within those papers. The papers looked important, too bad he could not recognize them.
"No, I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, but I don't really know this child. I just sort of saw how lonely he was and thought he could use some company" Her mouth moved in an odd pattern as noise came out. He could not understand it, but he knew it was communication just by how structured the pitches and vibrations were. She moved the Meta carpal on his hair while picking up a patterned patch of fibers in the one that formerly held the twisted metal. The fibers absorbed the spilled nutrients with ease, leaving his skin dried and cooled. "He didn't seem like he could eat, with his… coverings"
The human male kept shifted his dulled orbs into his form, which was covered with more whitened fibers, restricting much of his movement. They were comfortable, but they restricted much of his own moments.
"Yes…I simply left for several minutes to sort through the adoption papers, I guess I did forget about those bandages" His gaze met mine, "Did you enjoy the company, child?"
Child? No, this form was human, and young, but he knew that he was different, older. He was-
-what was he?
Instinctually, he knew what he was, his abilities, and his nature. None of those left him when he gained this form, he comprehended just what his existence was, but explaining it seemed just out of his reach. Now it was like trying to explain something using communication he did not understand, like the symbols on the pale fibers the man held or the rhythmic tones the female used.
Blank.
"…Shirou"
Chapter Two: Ponderings of a Reflection
"How is he Doctor?"
"You said you carried him out of the Fuyuki Fire?" The Doctor was an aging man with a grandfatherly smile and a frail body, seemingly more fit to be treated as a patient than treating patients. "He is suffering from severe dehydration, and minor burns, thought there seems to be some trauma on his head, so there might be a mental condition we are unaware of. Frankly I'm amazed you two even made it out at all in the first place, You're sure you don't need treatment?"
"I'm fine Doctor, my injuries aren't as bad as they seem"
"Alright, If you say so. But I'll place you on the non-emergency treatment waiting list just to check things out"
"If you say so, just take care of the child"
"Don't worry about him, that's my job" The elder doctor, then signaled his escort of nurses to keep moving, their cargo: a nameless child that was the sole known survivor of the Fuyuki Fire just a few hours ago. "Now, let's get to work"
Kiritsugu, knowing there were no other survivors tot eh disaster, yet hoping there was more, simply walked away. His destination: the adoption office.
He knew the child was now orphaned, so it would be his responsibility to take care of the child. It would be his penance, for his inability to live up to his ideals.
"Hello there, can I help you with anything" A middle aged lady answered his knocks, she was of European descent, with strong features and bright hair native to her roots, but with dark eyes and slim build indicating a small amount of Asian blood flowing through her.
The office was a pleasant mixture of cement and mahogany decorations. It was divided into two parts, by a counter. Behind it was the woman, working on files. He was in front, in the waiting room, furnished by three leather chairs, a coffee table with magazines and a bookshelf with many magazines.
"Yes, I would like to place a request to adopt Patient 'F'dash zero one"
"Oh, that poor child… aren't you going to wait for his Next of Kin to pick him up?" Her features turned from caring to confusion. He gave her a sad smile.
"I was hoping they would come and slug me across the face before I walked in... I had hoped"
"Alright, I'll get the papers ready in a moment. There are some refreshments and magazines to your right" She lifted herself from her chair and disappeared through an unseen door to get the requested papers. Now there was only silence on the room.
Seeing as there was nothing else to do, the Magus –Killer took a seat on the leather chair and proceeded to reflect upon his past actions. Recalling the face of the boy that had unknowingly given him a second chance, Kirtsugu found four more visages he could add to the list of his failures.
'Maya, Irisviel, Illya, Arturia… Please forgive me'
Chapter Two: Ponderings of a Reflection
"Doctor…how is grandfather?"
"I'm sorry little Ao, but his health can't take much more of this treatment…" He was middle aged man with rampant laugh lines marking his cheeks, such was countered by the Crow's Feet that grew deeper into his head, a testament to the stress building in his life. "He is not conscious, but… I can bend the rules this once if you really want to see him"
"No, it's alright Doctor. I don't want to get you in trouble after all" The girl with him was wearing a brown school uniform with an elaborate crimson neck-ribbon. She had fair skin, brown hair and crystal clear blue eyes that seemed to reflect an imaginary sky of its own. She had a sad expression on her beautiful adolescent features that dulled her bright aura considerably.
"Well, you better get back to class then. You know I will always keep you informed if there are any changes." The stressed doctor placed his skilled hands upon the girl's shoulder, tightening his grip to assure her while giving her an apologetic look. "While I would like for nothing more than for you to stay, with so many indirect victims of the Fuyuki Fire flooding in, there are simply too many patients for me to handle without an idling around"
"Indirect Victims? I though there were no Survivors" She tilted her head in curiosity, knowing that there was nothing left of the disaster, barely an ashes at all. The man nodded.
"Indeed, while those caught within the flames did not survive, those in the surrounding area were heavily affected by the amount of chemicals and debris expelled into the air in during the disaster. Right now, the indirect victims of the Fire are flooding into the tens of thousands, with the only survivor still being treated"
"There was a survivor? I thought you said there were none?" She turned to him, a questioning look adorning her features, a silent plea to satisfy her curiosity. He sighed, knowing that denying her would only lead to trouble.
"Not with the amount of physical and mental trauma he seems to have sustained. The poor kid seems to be either comatose with his eyes open or a vegetable due to his lack of response from any of our stimulus tests." He placed a gloved hand under his chin, adopting a thinking pose, "Maybe you'd like to help him? He's on Three-Twelve-B, or Third floor, twelfth room, on hallway B, Just don't-"
The rest of the doctor's words fell on deaf ears as the girl literally disappeared in a puff of smoke, with all the information she needed. He stopped speaking, knowing there was no one to hear him speak, and turned to the left, just in time to see a red glow disappear up the staircase.
"Oh, Master Aozaki! How should I handle your granddaughter this time?"
Chapter Two: Ponderings of a Reflection
"Shirou, is that your name?" The human male spoke once again in that rhythmic pitch, he could understand that the human wanted something in a benign sort of way. He detected no hostility, just simple curiosity. He understood that it was a question.
He wanted to respond to the human, it was the least he could do after receiving that smile, maybe he would even get another one afterwards! So, taking a breath he knew he needed in order to produce the required pitches, he twisted his lips and tongue-
"Blarkguezz!"
"Bla-what? I can't understand you" The female's face tilted in confusion, and he knew immediately he had not done his task right. This notion was further reinforced as the male raised his eyebrows in confusion as well.
Just at that moment, a male in the white fibers approached behind his male with similar fibers in his hands. He gazed upon the fibers before tapping the other male.
"Mister Emiya-"
"Please Doctor, call me Kiritsugu"
Um, yes. Mister Kiritsugu, I have both bad news and good news." The two males turned to each other as they engaged communication the only female in the room reached out to poke him on the cheek with curiosity with one of her phalanges, while the other was planted firmly on the warped wood she lay on. "On one hand he seems to have healed completely on a physical level. When you came in with the child, I honestly thought it would be better arranging a morgue. But, a miracle happened and the child has fully recovered! He can be discharged immediately if he wishes!"
"And the bad news?" As 'Mister Kiritsugu' asked, Shirou saw the older human droop. He seemed nervous.
"Well, you see, although his physical body is in top shape, it seems that the mental trauma has… regressed him"
"Regressed? What do you mean?" Now it was Mister Kiritsugu's turn to seem anxious.
"His memories are… non-existent. His mindset seems to be that of a new-born baby, without the usual curiosity. Mister Kiritsugu, for all intents and purposes, this boy-"
"It's Shirou, his name"
"Right, Shirou" The older male made some movement and scratchy sounds on the fibers he was holding before looking back at Mister Kiritsugu "For all intents and purposes, Shirou is a newborn child, with neither memories nor knowledge. He is as clean a freshly slated snow."
"Wow, no wonder he was looking at his food like he's never seen it before, he really didn't know what it was." The Female smiled as she chose to move two of her phalanges into a claw shape and grab is left cheek. Shirou didn't mind the pain, her innocent enjoyment made all the pain stemming from the stressed tissue was worth it. "Now let's try this, my name is A-O-K-O A-O-Z-A-K-I"
She then released the stressed tissue in favor of pointing on phalange at herself. Shirou understood that she was indicating to herself while stressing the two sets of pitched rhythms. When he didn't respond, the female repeated the action with more force. She seemed to be getting upset.
He did not want her to get upset, but he wondered if it was because he was not doing what she wanted?
He'd give it a shot, then at least he would know what was wrong.
"Ah Oh Kho" She seemed to perk up at that part, so he deemed that he was correct and continued, "Ah Oh Shah Kea"
"Eh, almost" She gave his a satisfied smile that spread warmth through his being, it was strange now he no longer had the need to feed in the presence of that feeling. It was good to not feel hungry. The Female waved a phalange from side to side as she stood up, and turned to Doctor and Mister Kiritsugu/Emiya. "I apologize for taking time with your future son, Mister Kiritsugu. I will be on my way now."
"Ah, it's no problem at all. Little Shirou here seems rather enthused by your presence, perhaps you would like to visit some time? Here is my address" Mister Emiya made scratching sounds on a fiber, before giving it to the nice female-Ah Oh Kho? No, the way they usually communicated was smoother, much faster as well. Ao Kho? "Hey little guy, I've got to go alright? Maybe next time! Goodbye Shirou!"
Her last pitches carried something of a finality to it, which somehow made him sad. He felt he needed to respond, else he would feel sad for an indefinite amount of time.
"Bye-Bye Ao!" Aoko seemed to recoil at the words as if both shocked and hurt, but that soon gave way to warm smile. Her azure eyes stared into his own with such intensity he thought he saw in infinite sky in there, a limitless horizon.
Limitless.
Unlimited.
Then, with one last pat on his head, she was gone.